Air line trap



Aug. 8, 1939. T. c. BROWNING AIR LINE TRAP Filed Nov. 21, 1938 M6 BY j M Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR LINE TRAP Thomas C. Browning, deceased, late of Springfield, Mass., by Sarah E. Browning, administratrix; Springfield, Mass.

Application November 21, 1938, Serial No. 241,603 2 Claims. (01. 183-410) -This; invention relates to improvements in traps A plate or cap I4 is fitted within the upper end foryair lines used for purposes of aerating and of the pipe, as shown, while a similar member ventilating and the like and it is directed more l6 may be associated with the lower. end of the particularly to the provision of a novel device for pipe i2 to close that end of the pipe.

= trapping water, grease and dirt in compressed Thus a cylindrical casing is provided with the air lines. upper and lower ends closed. It is, one of the principal objects of the inven- An air inlet 2|] is formed .at one side of the tion to provide atrap whereby water, grease and casing at the top. This inlet may be in the dirt will be extracted from the air as it is forced form of a nipple and it leads into and is secured 10; through an air line. to one side of the pipe 12. 10

It is, another object to provide a structure A similar opening 22 leads out of and is secured whereby the intermittent sound of air under to an opposite side of the pipe 12 and this is pressure will be muiiled as the water, grease and preferably located adjacent the upper end of the dirt are extracted therefrom. pipe. This is an air outlet and while it is shown 1 It is a further object of the invention to proas located diametrically opposite to the inlet, it 15 vide a trap structure which is so arranged that may be positioned at any point on the surface of its various parts, later to be more fully described, the casing. may be fitted together in various ways. The de- A cylindrical reservoir is provided at the botvice may be of any desired size, and it may be tom of the casing. An outlet is provided in the arranged to accommodate pressures of various lower end member 16 so that the reservoirmay 20 intensities. By reason of the novel construction be emptied as desired. .A drip pipe I8 is in of the invention, once the trap is installed in the communication with the outlet in the plate and line, it will requirelittle or no maintenance. extends downwardly from the trap. .;It is still a furtherobject to provide an im- Within the casing or pipe l2, there are disposed proveddevice which, is relatively simple in form two obliquely inclined baflie plates which are in- 25 and compact insize. It may be made more ecodicated by and 32. Preferably these plates are nomically and with fewer operations in the manusecured within the plate in parallelism, as shown, facture of its parts as well as in the assembly with their opposite ends held in place. thereof than prior devices known in the art. .By inclining the plates, the water, dirt and Air has an objectionable tendency to absorb other objectionable matters will flow by gravity 30 moisture and carry it when moved under prestoward the lowermost edges ofthe plates. sure. Atthe same time dirt and other elements At these lowermost edges, means are provided areiikewise carried forward under pressure. The for securing the plates to the casing in such a consequent deposition of these materials in cerway that spaces or openings 34 and 3B are pro- 5, tain quantities is not desirable. vided. This is for purposes as will hereinafter 35 Accordingly, means have been devised whereby more fully appear. this objection is obviated and the practice is over- Another pair of obliquely-inclined and spaced come, baffle plates and 42 are secured within the pipe Various other novel features, advantages and and these are located within the chamber of the 40;v objects of the invention will be hereinafter more pipe into which the inlet 20 leads. This cham- 40 fully described and referred to in connection with ber is obviously formed by the baffle plate 32 and the accompanying drawing wherein: the walls of the casing l2.

Fig. l is a side elevational view of the device The p1ates 40 and 42 extend at an angle to the of the invention; baffles. 30 and 32, as shown, and they are disposed 45 Fig. 2 is a sectional plan View on the line 2-2 downwardly from the baffle 32. The plates are 45 of Fig. 1; and secured to plate 32 at their upper ends and the Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view on the line 3-3 other ends are secured to the wall of the casing of Fig. 1. by such a means that spaces 44 and 4'6 are pro- Referring to the drawing in detail, the invenvided between the balile plates and the casing, tion will now be described. Like numerals refer for purposes as will also hereinafter appear. 50 to like parts in the drawing. The upper plate 4!! is obviously smaller in area The trap is indicated generally by It] and it than the lower plate 42 and it is perforated with includes a length of pipe l2 which may be of one or more holes 5|! in its center portion as standard form in most respects and it may be shown in Fig. 2. It has been found desirable that of any desired length and/ or diameter. the perforated area of plate 40 be approximately 55 one percent (1%) less than the area of the opening at the inlet 20. I

On the other hand, plate 42 is perforated substantially throughout its entire area so as to have a plurality of openings 52 as shown in Fig. 3.

The plate 32 is provided with a substantially central opening 54 which extends therethrough. It has been found that more efiicient trapping .and drainage may be'eifected if this opening 54 is located at a point in the plate below the inlet 20 and below the connection between the lower b aille plate 32 and the lower baflle plate 42. Clearly, the opening 54 leads into the chamber between the plates 30 and 32.

A substantially central opening 56 is also provided in the baffle 30 to afford communicationwith the chamber having access to the outlet 22. It has been found that more satisfactory results are obtainable if the opening 54 is of greater area than the opening 56 and is located above the outlet 22 as shown so that the velocity of the air passing through the trap when under pressure is less when going through the lower opening 54 than when going through the opening 56 adjacent the outlet 22.

With this arrangement, air under pressure entering the inlet 20 proceeds through openings 59 in baffle plate 46 and through openings 52 in plate 42 to the lowermost chamber in the pipe. Then there is an'upward passage through the hole 54 into the chamber between the plates 30 and 32, out through the opening 56 into the uppermost chamber, which, as previously stated, affords access to the outlet 22.

Thus it will be seen that water and air entering the inlet 20 pass downwardly to the contact plate where some air and water are separated passbrought about. The openings 52 allow further passage and the drippings fall downwardly towards the drain I4 while the air, of course, being under pressure passes upwardly through the openings 54 and 56. The water, being heavier than the air, fills the cylindrical reservoir through its own weight and is allowed to be emitted by means of the drain I8.

To overcome an objection which is common to all prior trap devices, the openings 34, 36, 44 and 4B prevent the water and dirt particles from collecting in the pockets which would obviously be formed were the baiiie plates extended directly to the wall. The openings permit these objectionable elements to readily flow therethrough instead of settling in the pockets.

By such holes, water above the baffle plates 30, 32, 40 and 42 is prevented from collecting until it drips through the holes in the plates when it could be again picked up by the air stream.

While the invention has been described in great detail and with respect to the present preferred form thereof, it is not desired to since many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the through,

spirit and scope of the invention. What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent 01 the United States is:

1. The combination in a water trap consisting of a hollow body provided with a drain in its lower end and inlet and outlet openings in the sides thereof adjacent its upper end, of a pair of baille plates within the body inclining downwardly away from the inlet side thereof towards the outlet side thereof, one of said baflle plates being spaced above and in substantial parallelism with the other and each having an opening therethe upper ends of said bafile plates being secured to the body and their lower ends being spaced from the wall of the body, and a perforated bafile member inclining downwardly away from the lower of said baffle plates towards the inlet side of said body, said baflle member having its upper end secured to the lower side of said lower baffle plate at a point above the opening therein and its lower end being spaced from the wall of the body, all adapted and arranged whereby air forced into said inlet may pass downwardly through the perforations in said bafilc member and through the opening in said lower bafile plate and upwardly in the space between the baille plates and out through the opening in the upper baiiie plate and then out said outlet.

2. The combination in a water trap consisting of a hollow tubular body having horizontal top and bottom walls and a vertical side wall and provided with a drain in its bottom wall and oppositely-disposed inlet and outlet openings in its side wall adjacent its upper wall, of a baflle plate within the body inclining downwardly away from said top wall adjacent the inlet towards the outlet side of the body, another bafile plate within the body inclining downwardly away from the side wall adjacent the inlet towards the outlet side of the body, said baflle plates being spaced apart and in substantial parallelism with each other and each having an opening therethrough, the upper end of the first-named bafile plate being secured to said top wall and the upper end of the second-named bailie plate being secured to said side wall and the lower ends of said baffle plates being spaced from said side wall, and a perforated bafile from said second-named baflle plate towards the body, said perforated baffle member having its upper end secured to the lower side of said second-named baffle plate at a point above the opening therein and its lower end being spaced from said side wall, all adapted and arranged whereby air forced into said inlet may second-named bafiie plate and upwardly in the space between the bafiie plates and out through the opening in the first-named bafile plate and then out said outlet.

SARAH E. BROWNING, Administratrizc 0 f the Estate of Thomas C. Browning Deceased. 

